I echo Fred's comments regarding this name. I had not given it much thought before. Thanks, Krzystof and Fred for the follow up. Jerry Lock Haven On Jan 2, 2009, at 11:49 AM, Fred Hoffman wrote: > Hi, > > Krzysztof Kopczynski wrote: > >> by the way Mieczysław's name day was yesterday >> on Jan the 1st. >> meaning: probably original form( in old Polish) >> was Mecisław - >> somebody who is spreading glory...... > > Thank you for this note. Like many others, I at > first thought the name was connected with the noun > _miecz_, "sword." But then I saw that Polish > experts concluded this derivation could not be > correct, for various reasons. The original form > was probably more along the lines of Miecisław, > with the first part from the root seen in the verb > _mietać_, "to throw, fling, cast" (according to > Jan Grzenia, _Slownik imion_) or _mieść_, "to > sweep, to throw" (J. Bubak, _Księga naszch imion_ > As long ago as the 16th century, people hearing > the name misunderstood the first part to be from > _miecz_, and that connection explains how it came > to be spelled Mieczysław. > > My problem was, I could make no sense of a name > meaning "throw-glory" or "fling-fame." Was it a > name for one who was famous for his throwing > ability? It didn't seem plausible to me. Your > explanation of "one who spreads glory," however, > is more convincing. I think I have a better > understanding of the name now. So I'm glad you > posted this note! > > Fred Hoffman > Co-Author, _First Names of the Polish > Commonwealth_ > www.fredhoff.com > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > the body of the message